In a breakthrough for Chinese high-end auto manufacturing, motorcycle brand ZXMOTO secured a historic double victory at the World Superbike Championship (WSBK) over the weekend in Portugal, marking the first time a Chinese manufacturer has reached the top of the podium in one of the world's premier motorbike racing series.
French rider Valentin Debise, racing on a ZXMOTO machine, won both Race 1 and Race 2 in the World SSP category at the circuit in Portimao, which runs as a support class to WSBK and features production-based bikes of 600cc or more.
The first victory came on March 28, when Debise rode ZXMOTO's 820RR-RS to win Race 1 of the Portuguese round by nearly four seconds. He then returned the following day to claim Race 2, completing a double triumph.
The result has ignited widespread excitement across Chinese social media and in auto industry circles. For decades, the WSBK has been dominated by established European and Japanese brands such as Ducati and Yamaha. ZXMOTO's ascent to the podium shatters long-held perceptions and signals a new chapter for Chinese innovation on the global stage.
For Zhang Xue, founder and owner of ZXMOTO, the moment carried profound personal and professional significance.
"I'm so excited. This is something I've been thinking about for so long, and now it has finally borne fruit. Decades. For the entire upstream and downstream supply chain, for our brand and for other domestic manufacturers, I believe this should help raise morale," he said.
What made ZXMOTO's success particularly striking was the price gap between its machines and those of other brands. ZXMOTO's 820RR is priced at just over 40,000 yuan (about 6,000 U.S. dollars), while competing Ducati and Yamaha models in the same category often sell for several times that amount.
Zhang also highlighted the technical advantages of his products.
"In the same displacement class, our bike delivers the highest horsepower, the lightest weight, and the lowest center of gravity. Compared to street-legal models, ours is more race-oriented. Riders and teams can adjust parameters to suit specific tracks. Our engine also offers stronger low-end torque. All of these are our advantages," he explained.
While celebrating the achievement, Zhang remained candid about the challenges that remain. He acknowledged that while China's manufacturing capabilities have now reached parity with European and Japanese counterparts, experience remains a key differentiator.
"In terms of overall manufacturing capability, we are now completely on par with European and Japanese brands -- truly at the same level. What they have, and what we still lack, is a deep reservoir of accumulated experience. To bridge that gap, we need to deploy more engineers to research and solve various problems. We are in a phase of catching up, sometimes stumbling along the way. In that sense, these established brands are our teachers. We purchase the world's most advanced products, disassemble them, and study them intensively, but not to replicate them. Replication has no value. What matters is that our engineers fully comprehend the design philosophy of the engineers who originally created those products," said Zhang.
Chinese motorcycle brand ZXMOTO secures historic double win at World Superbike Championship
